Original Idea For My Source-Based Essay

I would like to research the ethics of the migrants being held at the border and in specific “Why is there such a big number of migrants coming to the United States and what can we do to help?”. I am always interested in topics that are hard to talk about or in those that cause controversy. I just feel that the topics and issues that are not exactly in the light should be brought out into the light and spoken about. The migrant caravans fit both of my criteria, they are a big problem and they are also controversial because people have different opinions on them. I am Mexican American; my parents came to this country in their twenties looking for a better life so I can understand why so many people are seeking refuge in our country. We are known as the land of the free, a place where people can live out their dreams, and for this reason, people choose to come to the United States. A part of me says that we should let them all in because they are struggling in their own country and a lot of the times, they are fleeing danger from gangs, but the other part of me says that we can’t let them all in. I came up with the question of wanting to know how to help because if we can help then both parties would benefit. The United States won’t feel the pressure from the thousands of migrants seeking refuge and the migrants won’t need to come to the United States in the first place. I would just like to see everyone happy and when I see videos of kids in those camps at the border it is so hard to see. There are kids dying due to malnutrition, dehydration, and sickness, not to mention the treacherous journey to even make it to the border. Many of the migrants come from countries south of Mexico which is insane that they make it so far and it goes to show their determination for securing a better life. I guess I feel emotionally attached to this situation due to my Mexican background so I would really like to make a difference in this. This research question is important because so many lives are at risk. If nothing gets done then people will continue to die in their own countries, on the journey, and at the border. Living in those camps at the border is completely inhumane and something must be done in order to help. I plan to explore this question firstly by identifying the root of the problem. In this situation I know of some causes that lead to people wanting to come to the United States, these problems include gang violence, poverty, and dreams. It is almost impossible to live when your day to day is constantly threatened by relentless gang members, on top of that most of these people come from poverty, and it is their dreams that push them to come to the United States. I hope to create a difference in the way people are being treated at the border because it just is terrible the way these kids are living. Even if it is a small change, I would be happy because I hope it would be a domino effect from there where slowly the living conditions improve. I just want to see a world where nobody struggles, and I know that isn’t possible but we all can start with certain problems plaguing the world and to me, the living conditions of the migrants are a tremendous issue.

Reflection On My Inquiry-Based Research Essay

When writing my essay I was trying to spread a message, that message is that many children of immigrants struggle with mental health in America. Right away I knew I would write this essay with the intent of the children of immigrants or other immigrants in general to be my audience. I decided on that due to the fact that I want them to know that they are not alone if they are struggling with mental health due to the same causes other children of immigrants face. I feel that it helps to know that you are not the only one and that there are so many other people like you going through the same thing. At least that is what writing this essay has done for me, I never knew that there were so many other children of immigrants struggling with mental health. However, now I know that I am not alone so I feel better knowing that if other people can persevere even with all the struggles that come with being the child of an immigrant than I can too. With my audience in mind, I chose a tone that would be sympathetic towards the reader, I wanted my audience to be able to relate to what I was saying so that they can truly be engaged and receive my writing as effective as possible. The language I used were words that the audience can relate to like when I would say that being the child of an immigrant means having a big weight on your chest, the use of this language would assure my audience can relate because I’m sure they most likely have all mentioned having a big weight on their chests. 

I feel that this class has definitely fueled a renaissance to my writing that I haven’t necessarily experienced before. I was getting so used to writing the same way consistently almost blueprint like but this class has shown me that writing can be so flexible especially with genre in mind. The biggest thing I will take from this class I think is how powerful genre truly is to writing. I have learned that it is okay and in fact, encouraged to write differently depending on what the assignment or writing calls for. At times it may not be the best to write a whole paragraph about a little point I want to make clear, it would be better off with just a couple sentences, however, before I used to worry about the length of my paragraphs thinking that was the way it had to be done. The last class made genre even more clear and it showed me even more how writing can be so flexible. It showed me that you get your writer’s point across in a variety of ways, not just through a long essay. It is okay to look into other genres to deliver your message whether it be through a poem, song lyrics, or even a receipt format. Writing is so flexible and that is what I will take with me. 

In addition to genre the use of rhetoric in my writing has increased I would say. I used to write just to write, to get an assignment done. Now I write with rhetoric in my mind and to me, that means I write with purpose. I want my audience to capture the message I am trying to say through my use of tone, language, etc. Writing with a purpose is a much more effective way of writing due to the fact that I am actively trying to make sure my audience leaves with what I wanted them to pick up through my writing. 

All in all, this class so far has been amazing for me. I have ways to think about writing that I didn’t think about before. I never thought about genre much when I used to write and now I intend to write with purpose, both of which help me with my writing. I know that writing is more flexible now and with that in mind, my writing that comes forth will be pieces that I am truly proud of.

My Genre Proposal and My Strategy On How To Target My Audience For My Composition In Two Genres

Proposal with Original Idea

My topic is about the mental health struggles of the children of immigrants, therefore, a genre that allows me to capture feelings and truly deliver that to the audience would be best. 

The first idea that came to my mind was to use a poem. Poems are amazing for showing emotion and feelings. There isn’t a single poem I have read that doesn’t serve the purpose of showing how the author feels. A poem has certain conventions that are unique to poems which are what makes a poem a poem. Instead of paragraphs poems are separated by stanzas that don’t need to be indented and each line does not have to begin with capitalization. In fact, punctuation in poetry is rarely used which means the emphasis is on the actual meaning of the poem has to offer. Poems also usually rhyme although they don’t have to for this assignment, I would like to challenge myself and make the poem rhyme just to make it a bit harder. I will strive to create a hopeful sounding tone meaning that all in all it will show the sadness that the children of immigrants face but I also want to show that there is hope to make it out of that sadness. My audience will be primarily the children of immigrants so that they can understand that other people like them go through the same things, but they shouldn’t need to worry because everything will be okay. 

I was also thinking that a drawing can be very powerful in serving the same purpose of the poem which is to capture the feelings I want to portray. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I do indeed believe that. In my head, I’m thinking about drawing a side profile of somebody with their head being see-through so we can actually see what they are thinking about or going through. I was also thinking of a drawing that shows a kid smiling on the outside in front of their parents but then show that their inside is not too happy and in my opinion that will have a heavy statement. Drawing is something I used to love doing and why not use this assignment as an excuse to bring it back. The way I’m visualizing the drawing right now is really cool and the way I plan to execute it will definitely allow the reader to understand the protagonist’s pain. The tone of this drawing will be melancholy so that the audience, which can be anyone, in this case, understands the mental health struggles the children of immigrants face.

A comic strip I feel would also be very effective to show the mental health struggles of the children of immigrants. I would split the page into eight or ten sections that will flow in chronological order from the parents immigrating to America to the kid when they are about eighteen years old. This method would be very effective in portraying the entire story of why children of immigrants struggle with mental health because it will show the struggle from the start. The origin will be clear to the audience which can be anyone interested in learning about the mental health struggles of the children of immigrants, specifically those that read comics. There will be little writing because that it is how comics are, usually, the pictures tell the story and the few words that are there just help the pictures make more sense. With that in mind, I will need to make sure the pictures and the wordings of the captions match the same tone that I go for.

Superhero = psychological help

Supervillain = mental illness

Target = parents

 

Audience Strategy

For my composition in two genres I will be targeting both sides of the discussion, the children of immigrants and their parents. Doing this I feel would help my point come across clearly because then outside readers (unintended audience) would get the full picture. They would understand the message I want to send to the children of immigrants and they would be able to distinguish that from the message I want to send to the parents. This is an important element to this assignment because the audience needs to understand what information is for them so that they can truly soak in what is entitled to them. 

The first genre I will be using for this assignment is a poem. A poem speaks about feelings, the way someone is feeling, and what they are going through. This is the perfect genre to use to reflect the feelings of the children of immigrants. There are other genres like the diary entry or the self-reflection that I could’ve used to get the same outcome of making sure the feelings of the children of immigrants are highlighted but I am partial towards poems. I like making little raps from time to time which quite honestly is poems and one of those little raps has gotten me published in a poetry book so that is a big reason why I am choosing a poem.

 I will be talking about the feelings and struggles the children of immigrants face thus my target audience will be the children of immigrants. I chose them as my audience because I would like them to understand that they are not alone in their fight. I’m sure it would help a lot of people going through the same thing if they know they are not alone. I want the reader to leave with a sense of belonging and hope, belonging in the fact that they feel like they are a community of children of immigrants that struggle with mental illness but with hope, hope that they will make it out of their predicament and find success. I hope to achieve the audience leaving feeling with a sense of belonging and hope through my tone, relatability, and perhaps perspective by using “you” so it is as if I am having a one-sided conversation with the reader. My tone will reflect the feelings the children of immigrants go through, I will use words like “overwhelmed” which create a sense of always feeling under pressure. In addition, I hope to be relatable by using situations I know for sure a majority of children of immigrants go through so that the audience knows I also go through what they go through. Lastly, by using the word “you” it makes it as if I am speaking directly to the audience which will help create a connection to the reader.

My second genre I will be using is a comic book strip. The usefulness of a comic book strip is that I can combine the picture with words. A picture is worth a thousand words they say and I strive to achieve that in this assignment. Additionally, a comic book strip tells a story so I know telling the story the children of immigrants go through sometimes day today will hit home and resonate with the reader. The few words used in the comic book strip are there to support the picture I make meaning I want the focus to be in the drawings with the words there to help explain what is going on.

In my comic book strip, I plan on creating a superhero type of comic but implementing my research into it. In my comic, the villain will be a mental illness while the hero will be a psychologist. This hero is unique, however, because in order for his services you will need to pay a hefty amount because there isn’t universal healthcare in America. Also, the hero will be white to show that the psychiatric workforce is not diverse which is why a lot of children of immigrants don’t get the help they need since the parents would rather send them to talk to someone of the same heritage. The comic is going to show how the problem of mental illness amongst the children of immigrants is a reality and the help they need is not always readily available for the majority of them. My target audience in this comic is the parents of the children of immigrants. They are my audience for the comic because I want them to understand that their children likely struggle with mental illness but they aren’t getting the help they need. I hope that this comic will lead the parents to talk with their children and even try to get psychiatric help if possible so that their children get the help they need.